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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27236968">akechi goro's master plan to make akira-senpai a birthday bento</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoilette/pseuds/etoilette'>etoilette</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kinktober 2020 [27]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro Attends Shujin Academy, Akechi Goro and Sakura Futaba Are Half-Siblings, Alternate Universe, Cooking, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Senpai Akira, Senpai-Kouhai Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:28:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,311</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27236968</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoilette/pseuds/etoilette</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Day #27 of Kinktober: Role Reversal</p><p>Akira's birthday is coming up soon and Goro wants to make his favourite senpai a delicious bento. Unfortunately, if he wants to make something worthy of Akira's palate, then he needs to ask for help from someone who's an amazing chef. Someone like Akira himself.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kinktober 2020 [27]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949695</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>94</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>akechi goro's master plan to make akira-senpai a birthday bento</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you to Milk for the absolutely adorable Senpai Akira AU and inspiration! They're so sweet uwu.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Akira-senpai, what do you like to eat?"</p><p>It had taken Goro a few minutes of poking at his own bento to even work up the courage to ask the question. Now that it's out, he can't look at the older boy at all, fearful of what kind of expression he would be wearing.</p><p>Would he look exasperated at such a silly question? Annoyed that Goro wasn't able to figure it out on his own from simple observation? It's not as if Akira makes a bento for Goro every day already or anything, <em>gosh</em>. He swallows around the mouthful of rice and at the count of three, he glances up at his senpai.</p><p>Akira is blinking at him, as if Goro had started speaking in some foreign language. He's holding his chopsticks in mid-air, and there's a crumpled mess of a tamagoyaki in the bento box. He must have dropped it after hearing Goro's silly question.</p><p>"S-sorry," Goro stammers. "It's fine. It's not a big deal. I was just wondering because I —"</p><p>"Gyoza."</p><p>"— was hoping to learn how to cook and I know that you...hm?"</p><p>"Gyoza," Akira repeats, and Goro breathes a silent breath of relief upon realizing that his ears hadn't been playing tricks on him. Akira picks up the tamagoyaki and pops it into his mouth. "I really like homemade gyoza, but I haven't had the time to make them in a while."</p><p>"Gyoza," Goro breathes. It's not as if he doesn't <em>know</em> how to make them, but he knows from his many many failures in the kitchen that reading off a recipe and actually <em>doing</em> it are two completely different things. "That's an interesting choice, Akira-senpai."</p><p>Akira smiles. "Is it? They're delicious and you can have so many different flavours. They're always a mystery until you bite into them."</p><p>"Huh." He's known as a bit of a delinquent around Shujin thanks to his bad reputation, but it never fails to make Goro's heart race when he sees Akira's secretly romantic side. Especially knowing that Akechi's the only one Akira shows it to.</p><p>"Why do you ask, Goro?" Akira asks and Goro blinks back to reality, giving himself a mental shake.</p><p>"I wanted to make something for Futaba," Goro admits shyly, looking down at his food again. "She always eats stuff like cup noodles and instant yakisoba, right? It's a little worrying, especially since she's still growing. I just wanted to let her eat something healthy for a change."</p><p>Akira laughs, loud and clear, echoing under the sky. Whenever the two of them get the chance to eat lunch alone, without any of Akira's friends with them, Akira always takes Goro up to a secluded outdoors corner of Shujin High School, away from the vending machines so that they can never be disturbed by other students. In the beginning of their acquaintance, Akira used to take Goro up to the roof of Shujin, until Makoto busted them one day.</p><p>A warm weight settles itself on Goro's head and Goro recognizes it immediately as Akira's hand. "That's real nice of you, Goro," he says softly, rubbing his fingers through Goro's soft hair. "I'm sure she'll like that."</p><p>Goro grips his chopsticks tighter. It's now or never.</p><p>"C-can you teach me how to cook, Akira-senpai? You always make me such delicious food. If I'm going to learn how to make something for Futaba, then I want to learn from the best."</p><p>"I think you're giving me too much credit," Akira laughs, but there's a pleased note in his tone. "Of course, Goro. Just name the time. We can use Leblanc's kitchen."</p><p><em>Yes!</em> Goro quickly lowers his head to hide the too-wide grin on his face, biting his lip to tamper it down before Akira can see.</p><p>Step one of Akechi Goro's Master Plan To Make Akira-Senpai A Birthday Bento complete.</p><hr/><p>"Here," Akira says, handing Goro a dark green apron. He puts a dark blue one on, tying it neatly at the back without even looking at it. From his angle, with Akira facing him straight-on, Goro can't see how the ribbon looks like, but if it's anything close to what he knows Akira can normally do with his hands, it probably looks neat and professional. "That's the apron I usually wear."</p><p>"Akira-senpai's...?" Goro breathes. He holds the apron up to his nose. It carries on it the strong scent of coffee, sunlight, and detergent. Just like Akira. When he hears Akira stifle a laugh behind his hand, he jerks the apron away from his face, feeling his cheeks heat up at the realization.</p><p>
  <em>Dammit! I forgot that Akira-senpai was still in front of me!</em>
</p><p>"S-sorry," Goro stammers. He hurriedly puts the apron on, tying it at the side so he can see what he's doing. Even though he was looking at his hands the entire time, the ribbon is uneven and ugly. He pointedly ignores the fact that wearing the apron makes Akira's scent hit his nose even stronger, and that he's probably getting Akira's scent all over him. "I was just wondering what kind of detergent you use."</p><p>"Right," Akira says. He doesn't sound like he believes Goro at all, but he doesn't sound disgusted either. If anything, he sounds amused, even though Goro didn't tell a joke. Considering Akira's apron is so large on Goro that the ends of it brush the bottoms of his knees, he's probably laughing at how ridiculous Goro looks.</p><p>In Goro's opinion, however, Akira's the one being silly. Goro's barely a centimetre shorter than Akira. Just what kind of person cooks with an over-large apron and thinks <em>they're</em> the one who's normal? Akira-senpai, clearly.</p><p>"Do you need something to tie your hair up?" he hears Akira ask and he quickly shakes his head to dislodge his useless thoughts.</p><p>"Ah, no," Goro says. "I brought my own."</p><p>There's an elastic band in his pocket that he had taken from a half-eaten bag of chips that morning, and he quickly gathers his hair together in a ponytail with his fingers. Without a mirror and a proper comb, there are probably flyaway strands and wisps all over the place, but he hopes that Akira won't mind.</p><p>Before he could use the elastic though, Akira reaches over and gently pries Goro's hands away from his head. "You're gonna give yourself a headache with that," he says. "Here, Futaba left this behind the last time she hung out in Leblanc."</p><p>Akira reaches into his own pants pocket and tugs out a familiar green scrunchie. It's indeed one of Futaba's — Goro's seen it in his half-sister's hair a few times before during her video game nights — but he also remembers how she was loudly complaining to the group as a whole about how she lost it. Akira was holding onto it the entire time? Even though he was there when Futaba practically tore the café apart during her search?</p><p>The snicker escapes Goro before he can stifle it, but he manages to cover his mouth before Akira can see his too-wild-too-wide grin. Despite that though, Akira still looks delighted, pleased with himself at how he managed to pull the wool over Futaba's eyes.</p><p>"It's a secret, alright? She'll kill me if she finds out," Akira says. He gestures with his hand for Goro to turn around, and he obeys.</p><p>The first touch of Akira's warm hands delicately brushing against the back of Goro's neck has him balking, his shoulders hiking up to his ears at the ticklish sensation. He had been doing the same thing to himself mere seconds earlier, but for some reason, when it's Akira's hands on him, it's. Different.</p><p>"Sorry," Akira laughs softly. "It'll be over soon."</p><p>It's not as if Goro has a lot of hair. His hair is long for a boy, but it's not anything like Takamaki's or Futaba's, with hair that practically brushes against their waists every time they move their heads. Akira gathers the hair together quickly, noting that Goro's hair is easier to take care of than Futaba's since Goro keeps it so soft and silky. Considering Futaba's idea of proper hair care is daily shampoo and conditioner, that's not a high standard to meet.</p><p>Before Goro can even properly parse Akira's proximity to him, it's over. Akira steps away and Goro turns to face him, feeling the scrunchie hit against the back of his neck when he does so.</p><p>Akira stares at him for a moment, his eyes wide. Even though the temperature inside of Leblanc is kept cool thanks to the air conditioning, there is a hint of red on his cheeks, as if someone had dusted blush over Akira's face. He opens his mouth but before he can say anything, he closes it again.</p><p>Goro tilts his head to the side. The weight of the ponytail drags against his shoulder with the movement. "Akira-senpai? What's wrong?"</p><p>"Huh?" Akira blinks several times before he looks away, scratching the back of his head, his lips curling down in a frown. The red of his face intensifies. "Nothing, Goro. Sorry."</p><p>It <em>is</em> a little weird for a guy of Goro's age to have such a girly scrunchie, and with his apron looking more like a dress, he supposes he must look most ludicrous. Before he could offer to run to the nearby store and buy another apron or hairband, Akira starts to pull ingredients out from the refrigerator.</p><p>Chives, garlic, minced meat, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms...everything was organized neatly on a tray covered by plastic wrap. There's even an unopened bag of gyoza wrappers. It looks so professional that Goro can't help the impressed gasp, and Akira huffs out a laugh.</p><p>"It looks like we're going to make something really special!" Goro comments.</p><p>"We are," Akira replies.</p><p>What could he be talking about? In terms of ingredients, everything on the tray looks pretty standard for gyoza. Goro must have the most confounded look on his face because Akira merely laughs at him again before unwrapping the tray and removing a kitchen knife from the knife holder.</p><p>"Gyoza is pretty simple," Akira says, and Goro straightens his back unconsciously, taking his notebook and pen out from his back pocket. If he's going to do this for Akira, he's going to make it <em>perfect</em>. "Er, I'm not sure if you'll need that; it's only a few steps. We simply take everything here, mix it together, and knead them into the wrapper."</p><p>Goro nods seriously, jotting down as much as he can.</p><p>"Do you want to try cutting the vegetables while I season the meat?" Akira asks. "This is a cooking lesson for you, after all."</p><p>"Of course!" Goro says, taking the preoffered knife. He turns on the kitchen sink and runs each vegetable under the stream before placing them onto the chopping board.</p><p>Following Akira's instructions, he slices the vegetables easily, keeping everything as thin and even as he can, and tosses each finished pile into the bowl of seasoned minced meat. Akira kneads the vegetables in until everything is a messy pink-and-green glop. The steady beat of the kitchen knife against the chopping board and the synchoronized rhythm of Akira and Goro's breathing create a warm and homey atmosphere, and Goro can barely bite back the wide smile on his face.</p><p>It's so easy to imagine a life where this is how he and Akira spend their weekends together.</p><p>As if reading his thoughts, Akira looks over at him, his eyes glued to the way that Goro deftly slices through the last of the ginger. "You're much better with a knife than I thought you'd be."</p><p>"I've been cooking for myself since I was in elementary school," Goro explains. "Mom was never really around, and after she passed away, I had to learn how to feed myself on a budget. I can't mooch off of Sakura-san's charity forever, either, so I still cook for myself on weeknights and weekends."</p><p>"Ah, right." Akira's hand shoots up to his neck as if he's about to rub it but he stops. With his palm and fingers covered in food, he would probably get raw meat and chives all over his skin. "Sorry," he continues, looking contrite.</p><p>"It's fine," Goro replies as cheerily as he can. "Now that we're done the filling, let's turn them into gyoza."</p><p>Akira stares at Goro for a second longer, as if trying to gauge if Goro is telling the truth or not. The smile doesn't leave Goro's face at all. How could it, when he feels so happy he could practically float away? With Akira-senpai in front of him, caring for him, wondering about him...it's like a dream.</p><p>"This is actually the hard part," Akira says after he's satisfied with whatever he saw. He tears open the packaging and using a spoon, scoops out a ball of the filling and plops it into the wrapper. He dips the tips of his fingers into a bowl of water that he had filled while Goro was still chopping the vegetables, and he traces the edges of the wrapper slowly. Goro watches, amazed, as Akira folds the wrapper in half and works in the creases. Within seconds, a beautiful uncooked gyoza sits proudly in the palm of Akira's hand.</p><p>"That's amazing!" Goro exclaims. He remembers how his mother tried to make home-made dumplings when he was much younger, and how much they would crumble apart in her hand. He's never seen someone other than a professional make a gyoza that looks so beautiful, and in barely any time too.</p><p>"You'll be able to do it too," Akira insists. "It's not that hard once you get the hang of it and you've always been good with your hands."</p><p>He's not sure where Akira got <em>that</em> impression but if he thinks that Goro can do it, then all Goro can do is live up to that expectation.</p><p>Copying what Akira did, he scoops out a ball of meat and places it in the center of the gyoza wrapper. So far so good. He dips his fingers into the water and smudges the corners of the dough with it. Just like what Akira did. Goro folds it and starts to put in the creases, making sure he's squeezing everything shut so the gyoza doesn't come apart when cooking.</p><p>It's a lot harder than Akira made it look. For one thing, the dough sticks to Goro's fingers whenever he pulls them away, and the folds that had looked so good when he was holding them shut would fall apart. It's misshapen and uneven, and when Goro finally finishes and places it next to Akira's gyoza on the plate, it starts to tilt to the side. When he placed the meat inside the wrapper, he must have accidentally placed more filling on one side.</p><p>The disappointment must have been clear on his face because Akira nudges his side with his elbow. "Don't worry, Goro! That would have been some kind of world record if you could have done it perfectly on your first try. You just need more practice."</p><p>"Right," Goro says glumly, picking up a second wrapper. The second one looks, if possible, even worse. The third one is no better. The fourth one completely falls apart as soon as Goro lets go of it. He never thought it possible to get worse and worse at something the more you try it, but it seems like Goro has a secret talent he never knew about.</p><p>The whole time, Akira encourages him. He doesn't laugh, even when he sees Goro desperately trying to separate the second gyoza from the third gyoza after he stuck them too close to each other. If Sakamoto was here, he probably would have gotten a hernia from how hard he'd be laughing at Goro.</p><p>"I'm hopeless," Goro sighs as he sets down the gyoza he was folding. It's not like he wants to show how pathetic he is in front of Akira, but the lament just came out of him. It's too late to pull it back into his mouth.</p><p>As expected, Akira shakes his head. "You're not hopeless. You're just new at this. Here, I'll help you."</p><p>He moves so he's standing behind Goro, and he peeks his head out from over Goro's shoulder; he's taller than Goro by only a hair, so it's not as if he can easily look past Goro's head. His hands are still covered with meat, and as he covers Goro's hand, winding their fingers together gently, he can feel the slime of the food get all over his own dirty hands.</p><p>For a moment, Goro freezes, letting Akira manipulate his hands into picking up a ball of filling and a wrapper. Akira's a furnace behind him. Or maybe he's the furnace in front of Akira? His face certainly feels like it's on fire. Can Akira sense that, or is he too focused on making Goro's hands knead gyoza?</p><p>"...and there you have it," Akira says and his words push Goro back into reality. He blinks down at his hands (with Akira's hands still brushing the backs of his!), where a perfectly-shaped gyoza sits primly in his open palm. "See? It was easy."</p><p>What was?</p><p>"Sorry, could you do it again?" Goro asks sheepishly.</p><p>Akira laughs softly and a tingling pleasure crawls up Goro's spine at the sensation of the warm air brushing against his neck. "Sure."</p><p>This time, Goro forces himself to focus, watching as Akira carefully pleats one side of the gyoza and presses them together. He had been folding both sides and sealing them while working, and that's most likely where he went wrong.</p><p>That's what he thinks anyway. It's hard to pay any attention on what his hands are doing when he can practically <em>feel</em> the steady cadence of Akira's heart against his back, when the warmth and callouses of Akira's rough hands press against the smooth skin of his own hands. It's like he's being enveloped by his senpai, and he wishes that they had decided against putting chives inside, because the strong aroma of the vegetable was blocking out any of Akira's natural scent.</p><p>Not that Goro would be smelling him anyway, of course!</p><p>"You got it?" Akira asks as Goro places the finished gyoza on the plate.</p><p>Goro nods, not trusting himself to speak. Even half-addled with nerves and embarrassment, he had been observing. He mimes the pleating motion in his hand once, and Akira squeezes his fingers encouragingly.</p><p>"Alright, now you try," Akira urges, though he doesn't move away.</p><p>Even with Akira crowding in his space, it's not hard. Goro repeats exactly what Akira did, from the amount of filling to the careful action of the pleats. When he finally presses the two sides together, the gyoza is still unremarkably ugly, but it's leagues better than anything that Goro had made on his own.</p><p>"I did it," Goro breathes. He turns to look into Akira's face. This close, he can see every starlit speck of red in those beautiful grey eyes, and he resists the urge to press his face against him. "Thank you, Akira-senpai."</p><p>Akira leans in close for a moment, as if he noticed something on Goro's eyelashes, but before Goro could ask what was wrong, Akira lets go of him and walks away.</p><p>"Let's keep on making them," Akira suggests, though he doesn't look at Goro.</p><p>Goro nods and, after Akira starts to fold gyoza again, he continues to work. Even after being taught by Akira, it's immediately obvious which ones are his and which ones are Akira's. But by the time they are scraping the spoon against the glass whenever they scoop up filling, it's harder and harder to tell.</p><p>"Great job," Akira praises brightly, tilting the plate of finished gyoza this way and that. "They look perfect, Goro."</p><p>"It's all thanks to you being a good teacher, Akira-senpai," Goro replies bashfully, even as he preens internally.</p><p>The rest of the work was simple, and even a complete amateur like Goro could do the simple tasks of filling up a pan with oil, waiting until the gyoza started sizzling, pouring in water, and covering it up with a lid. While the food steams, the two busy themselves with chit-chat. Goro tells Akira about a new cat that's started showing up near his house, and Akira regales him with tales about the latest Morgana escapade.</p><p>"Where is Mona, anyway?" Goro asks, looking around as if Morgana would magically appear out of nowhere.</p><p>It's not as if he's <em>enamoured</em> with Akira's cat or anything. It would just be sad if Morgana is waiting for the usual belly rubs and ear scritches that Goro gives him, and Goro was too busy to notice</p><p>"I sent him to Haru's for the day," Akira replies, lifting the lid to rotate the gyoza so it could be crispy all over. He moves the pan and chopsticks away when Goro tries to reach out for them, and nudges Goro away from the stove with his foot when Goro makes a second lunge. "It would be bad if his fur got in the food, right?"</p><p>"I guess..."</p><p>Is Akira waiting for Goro to retort that that's never stopped Akira from keeping the cat around the cafe even when Sojiro is making curry? But by the time Goro works up the nerve to play the straight man to Akira's funny man, he already took too long for the joke to still be funny. If Sakamoto was here, he might have said it anyway, but Goro doesn't think he can ever be as shameless as him.</p><p>With the gyoza fresh and soft, it takes only a handful of minutes for them to cook through, and Goro plates them quickly, arranging them as best as he can. Akira tips soy sauce and la-yu into a saucer, making sure that he only puts a little bit in out of consideration for Goro's more sensitive tongue.</p><p>"We did it!" Goro exclaims. He sets the platter down on the counter and whips out his phone, taking a picture and sending it to Futaba.</p><p><em>Nice</em>, is all she says.</p><p><em>Don't you have anything better to say?</em> Goro shoots back quickly.</p><p>
  <em>Don't kiss Akira after you eat gyoza. Your mouth will be stinky.</em>
</p><p>Goro flushes. <em>Shut up.</em></p><p>
  <em>You wanted me to say something!</em>
</p><p>But before Goro could get into an immature argument with his half-sister, he shoves the phone back into his pocket, slapping his face once to try and get his head back in the game.</p><p>Akira hands him the chopsticks he had been using to cook with and says, "If you want to try them out now, you can go ahead. I'll start cleaning up."</p><p>He pointedly doesn't mention how red Goro's face is, but maybe he didn't notice. His attention seems to be focused on the dirty dishes piled up in the sink.</p><p>"I'll help!" Goro starts but Akira waves him off.</p><p>Once Akira has his mind set on something, there's no point arguing with him. Especially when it's over something as silly as this. Goro carefully picks up a misshapen gyoza with his chopsticks but as soon as he puts pressure around it, he sees a hole appear in the wrapping. Small bits of meat flow out with the juices, along with the chopped chives and mushrooms. Should gyoza be this weak, and should the juices be so watery?</p><p>Goro can't help but feel a little alarmed; he's never seen this happen before, but then again, he's also never seen gyoza break this easily before.</p><p>Before any more can leak out, he dips it into the small saucer of soy sauce and pops it into his mouth. It's hot, of course, but Goro chews as fast as he can before he swallows it.</p><p>It's not <em>delicious</em>, per se. Goro has definitely tasted better, though his only frames of reference are restaurants in the city, so he supposes his would never live up to his expectations. He must have put too much water into the pan or something because the wrap is soft rather than crunchy. The filling is perfectly seasoned, as can be expected from something Akira helped to make, and it's perhaps the one saving grace for the gyoza.</p><p>"How is it?" Akira asks, shouting over the stream of water as he washes everything diligently.</p><p>"It's good," Goro replies honestly.</p><p>No matter how badly he messed up, Akira had a huge part in making these gyoza. There's no way they can be bad.</p><p>"Can I try some too?" Akira asks, turning to look at him.</p><p>Goro had been in the process of moving the gyoza off the plate and into a Tupperware when he freezes. It's almost like he's a robot that hadn't been properly oiled in a long time — every part of his body feels stiff with anxiety. When he shifts his body to look at his senpai, he can practically feel the rusty nuts and bolts of his body creak with the action.</p><p>"Um," he starts before biting his tongue.</p><p>How can he say no, when Akira is looking at him with so much excitement in his eyes. He helped out so much as well! He can still feel the warmth from Akira's hands around his wrists, can still remember in vivid detail how good Akira had felt, pressed up against his back.</p><p>
  <em>Stupid! Stupid!</em>
</p><p>"It's alright if —"</p><p>"Yes!"</p><p>For a second, the only sound in Leblanc is the rushing water of the kitchen sink as Akira and Goro blink at each other.</p><p>"Yes," Goro repeats. "You can try some."</p><p><em>Why did I say it like that?! It's not as if</em> I'm <em>the senpai. Who am I to give Akira-senpai the go-ahead?</em></p><p>But Akira doesn't look bothered. He smiles and tilts his head down at the kitchen sink, where his soapy hands are still sponging off oil from the pan. "Sorry, Goro, but I'm a little tied up over here. Could you come over and feed me one?"</p><p>"Of course, Akira-senpai!" Goro says, picking up the entire plate. There are still about half of the gyoza left, and he hurries over, careful that he doesn't accidentally trip over anything and send the food flying.</p><p>As he gets closer, though, the reality and gravity of Akira's request finally sinks into his head. There is no way to describe the screech that Goro's mind lets out at the realization of <em>Akira-senpai asking Goro to feed him a gyoza.</em></p><p>Could he just hand Akira the chopsticks and let him pick it off the plate? Maybe that's what he expected Goro to do. Maybe Goro's reading into it a little bit too much.</p><p>Ah, but no, Akira's eyes are closed and his mouth is wide open, clearly expecting a gyoza to materialize onto his tongue at any moment. His hands have stopped moving, but the water is still on, and Goro is shaking so hard that he keeps dropping the gyoza back onto the plate.</p><p>"I'm waiting," Akira says, sing-song.</p><p>"Er, right," Goro replies flatly.</p><p>He wanted Akira's first taste of Goro's cooking to be when Goro hands it to him on his birthday, but..</p><p>Goro takes a deep breath, as quiet as he can so Akira doesn't hear, steadying his shaking hand. It's all right. It's just Akira-senpai. Besides, the gyoza was <em>fine</em> when he ate it earlier. It's fine. It's fine.</p><p>He picks it up and dabs it into the soy sauce. Thankfully, this one is a little bit more structurally intact, and the wrapper doesn't break. With the plate to catch any stray droplets of soy sauce, he carefully and slowly pops it into Akira's mouth. His lips close around the chopsticks, the plush bow warping slightly on the wood, and Goro slides them out of Akira's mouth. Akira's tongue darts out to lick off any remaining oil or sauce, like a cat cleaning milk off its whiskers, and he starts to chew, making a soft sound of appreciation.</p><p>"Is it good?" Goro asks, his heart pounding in his chest. He can't tell if it's from his worry over Akira's opinion, or if it's from the sight of Akira's cheek bulging as he chews.</p><p>When Akira finally swallows, he blinks his eyes open and gives Goro a smile. "It's delicious, Goro!"</p><p>He reaches out with his hand and pats Goro on the head. Goro wants to preen and enjoy the familiar steady warmth of his senpai's hand, but it never comes. Instead, it's wet and sticky and, loathe as Goro is to say it, a little gross. When Akira pulls away, mortification written all over his face, Goro can see that there's soap and water still dripping down Akira's hand.</p><p>"Sorry, Goro!" Akira exclaims, turning off the water and grabbing a clean dishtowel. He places it on Goro's head and gently pats away as much of the suds as possible. "I wasn't thinking."</p><p>Through the towel, Akira's hand is tender and comforting, just like it always is, and Goro resists the urge to press his head against it, desperate for more.</p><p>"Was the gyoza good?" Goro asks instead.</p><p>Akira smiles, so wide that Goro can see his dimples, so big that his eyes practically narrow into crescent moons. "It was! We did such a good job together, Goro. That gyoza was the tastiest gyoza I've ever had."</p><p>He's exaggerating, of course. It's like when a child offers up a painting and their parent calls it Louvre-worthy. Goro's far past the age where he believes such foolish lies, but somehow, hearing it from Akira, his ridiculous heart can't stop the happiness spreading throughout his body, until it feels like even the tips of his fingers are on fire.</p><p>Goro lowers his head as Akira moves the towel away, hoping that that's enough to hide the crimson of his face. "Th-Thank you, Akira-senpai," he murmurs. "But it wasn't all me. You helped me the entire time."</p><p>He wants to talk louder and clearer with Akira, because Akira's the one who helped him to overcome that dreadful loneliness and resentment of before, but he can't. With the pounding of his heart so loud that he can practically feel it in his throat, that soft mumble is the best that he can manage.</p><p>He must look ridiculous, with his messy tied-up hair and his too-big apron. With the wet still dripping down from his bangs, sliding down his red cheeks. With his gaze affixed firmly down at the plate of cooling gyoza.</p><p>But Akira uncharacteristically doesn't say anything. Not even to laugh at or comfort him.</p><p>Goro peeks up through his bangs at Akira and sees, to his mild amazement, that Akira is no longer looking at him. His pale skin is dyed red and his mouth is hidden behind a hand, even though it's spreading soap and water all over his face. His eyebrows are furrowed, and Goro could be tricked into thinking that Akira is mad, if it wasn't for the fact that Goro's seen this exact same expression in the bathroom mirror before.</p><p>When he was thinking about how much he likes his senpai.</p><p>Akira's birthday is still a few weeks away, but if it will take that long until Goro can see this face from him again...</p><p>"Please don't make anything for lunch tomorrow, Akira-senpai," Goro says. It takes Akira a second to collect himself before he looks at Goro, an open question on his face. He hopes that his smile is as bright as how he feels as he continues, "Just leave it to me!"</p><p>Would Akira like curry gyoza? Or maybe he should stick to basics? For the first time, Goro can't wait to leave Leblanc so he can go home, where he can spend the rest of his evening making the most delicious gyoza for his favourite senpai in the world.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Akechi can cook but it's not anything nutritious, and he never actually makes anything for lunch unless it's a special day. He probably just puts toast and apple slices into his bento box and calls it a day, which is why when Akira brings a bento to school, he brings one for Akechi as well.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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